 |
| Happy with his coral biscuit |
In the previous blog post I outlined the methodology for
public coral planting, today I shall expand more into the booth and
what we try and explain to people. Educating the general public is a large part
of conservation, particularly environmental education for the new generations about the importance
of being sustainable.
 |
| The Science Team |
Turtles
 |
| Jason Talking about Turtles |
Ocean plastic pollution is one of the main threats facing these
beautiful creatures. We at TRACC have performed autopsies on turtles and very
often, as reflected in the literature, find that blockages of the intestinal
tract are the primary cause of death. It appears that plastic bags in the ocean
resemble jellyfish are one of the most common causes of this threat.
So what can you do?
Firstly one thing that everyone can do is simply reduce the
amount of plastic they use in their everyday life. One of the easiest and most effective ways of
doing this is simply not using carrier bags. Buy yourself a lifelong shopping
bag and immediately help reduce your carbon footprint. The average active use
of a carrier bag is under 30 seconds and yet it can take hundreds of years for
this to biodegrade. Also buying in bulk can considerably reduce plastic in
packaging terms, and also save you money! Lastly, the simplest of all, don’t
litter!
Another threat that faces sea turtles is egg collection. Turtles are air breathers and need to come onto land to lay eggs. They lay on average 6 times a season and leave large and very evident tracks leading to their nests. Here in Malaysia the eggs are considered a delicacy, one single nest of turtle eggs can be equivalent of an entire months wages, so its no surprise that historical nest raids have dramatically reduced turtle numbers over the years. At the time of writing it is currently illegal, but with so many beaches its impossible for the police to enforce any kind of law regarding this matter. Here at TRACC, we have collected and hatched in excess of 3000 eggs since 2013. We try and put the message across that the maximum value of turtles, is in ecotourism for the community, rather than a one off payment for an individual.
Shark fin soup
Shark bycatch / fisheries are another issue that we are
trying to educate the public about. Sharks are scientifically defined as fish,
however they belong to the subclass Elasmobranch, which also contains rays,
skates and sawfish. All members of the subclass Elasmobranchii, in comparison to the majority of other fish subclasses, have long life histories (that is
they take a long time to mature, gestated etc). This in turn means that sharks
are more prone to being unsustainably fished. Shark surveys conducted
across the world all point to significant global reductions in populations of
sharks, See HERE for ours.
Shark fin soup is a causes of massive increases in shark
fisheries. Shark fin soup is a luxury item in Chinese culture, and Malaysia has the second largest import of shark fins in Asia. To obtain maximum profits,
it is common practice for sharks de-finning to take place on the vessel and their body to be thrown
overboard (sometimes still alive). By doing so much more shark fin (the most
profitable part of the shark) can be brought to market.
For more information about shark conservation click HERE
For more information about shark conservation click HERE
 |
| Jason explaining about dynamite fishing |
Another threat which we are trying to mitigate is that of
blast (aka dynamite) fishing. This sadly is exactly as it sounds. Its roots lie
within the occupation of the Philippines by America. Historically WW2 grenades
were thrown into the water, they would then explode, killing everything in its radius
and fish would simply be collected.
Sound like a pretty easy way to fish? It is! Super effective
as well as very time efficient. However these bombs also cause massive coral
damage, no coral means no fish, therefore the few people who bomb fish are in
effect, destroying their livelihood and also the livelihood of other artisanal net
fishers for short term gain. For more information on blast fishing click HERE.
 |
| Putting the biscuit back into water asap to reduce stress on the coral |
Again i'd like to say thank you to all those who participated and a HUGE thank you to my team of scientists; Kit, Jason and Emily for continually working with a positive, can-do attitude, even when working into the night. Great work guys.
Thanks also to the Small grants programme (SGP) of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) administered by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). #thegef
 |
| Our best looking biscuit? |
 |
| The future generation planting the future coral! |
 |
| Mixing a thick paste of the coral planting cement |
You may also want to read about
our coral planting for world ocean day or Growth of the branching corals in the coral nursery. or Step reefs or Bottle reefs or Shark cave reefs or igloo reefs
More blogs about TRACC marine conservation centre
More blogs about TRACC marine conservation centre
More info about learning to dive or volunteering to help save the ocean with TRACC in Malaysia
- Turtle Snorkellers - Divers
For more information, about learning to dive or volunteering to help save the ocean with TRACC in Malaysia - Turtle Snorkellers - Divers
please check our website or e-mail info@tracc-borneo.org
The main website is at http://tracc-borneo.org
Check out our posts on our activities
on fb tracc.borneo
on twitter tracc_borneo
on google + tracc
please check our website or e-mail info@tracc-borneo.org
The main website is at http://tracc-borneo.org
Check out our posts on our activities
on fb tracc.borneo
on twitter tracc_borneo
on google + tracc
or simply #tracc or #traccblog on Google, Facebook, twitter or instagram
